When you see a photo like this, are you inspired to learn how to declutter and have an organized closet?
What you wear takes up a lot of your energy and when your closet is constipated with stuff you don’t wear (for whatever reason), it becomes a gigantic IPOD (Important Pile of Decisions). Your closet is just like your garage if your car is parked in the drive-way.
What might surprise you is the pile of decisions isn’t a bunch of various decisions like when you have to file papers into a filing cabinet, because 90% of the stuff you’re not making a decision about just needs to go! Good-bye, ciao, ta ta, Cheerio, fairwell! How to de-junk is that simple! Let it go!
I’ve been helping people get the spark and motivation to declutter for almost 40 years and have come up with some very creative and fun ways to give you that spark. This one I’ll call Operation Pity Trip.
Let’s Go
Hopefully I can get you to get into character for this de-junking project (your inner child will love it). Set the timer for 15 minutes and pretend you’re very poor and you have to pack for a trip to some horrible place like Siberia. (I really don’t know if Siberia is that awful, I just know, in the movies, people get sent there as a punishment.)The whole point of this is to get you into that character.
Get a garbage bag (you’re too poor to have a suitcase) and go into your closet and start packing for the trip. It’s a pity trip and you’ll need to look awful while you’re there, so you’ll need clothes that are too tight (they’ll always make you look pathetic) out of style and worn. Pick out accessories, jewelry, shoes, etc that do the same thing. Make complete outfits. (You could put an outfit on and take a pitiful selfie just for the fun of it.)
Oh yes, don’t forget toiletries. Look under the sink for some bottles and jars of stuff you never smear on yourself anymore. For sure they’ll be perfect for where you’re going. And while you’re at it, check out your book shelves for books you never read and magazines you’ve thought you’d read someday but won’t. See if you can fill the garbage bag in 15 minutes.
When you pack for a real trip, you pack the clothes you really like and that fit you now and make you feel good. That’s a clue to what you need to have hanging in your closet. I don’t know at what point our closets become holding tanks for clothes and accessories we’ll never wear again.
The clothes you wore ten years ago are not only not in style, you’ve changed and no doubt your preferences have changed, not to mention other things. Why have clothing cramming your closet that you’d never take on a trip? It’s kind of silly don’tchathink?
When you’re all packed for your pity trip, it’s important that you follow through with the expedition. No, you’re not going to Siberia, but you are going to drive to a donation center. As soon as you dump off the bag, I promise you’ll feel great about what you’ve accomplished!
I wrote about another way to get your closet streamlined with just what you love and wear. To read it click on the messy closet.
Love,
P.S. My latest book, The JOY of Being Disorganized, tackles serious challenges in a light hearted manner. It really does show you how to have joy, no matter what your situation is. Peace and Joy, isn't that what we all really want?
Love,